Enterpreneur finds creation included in Oscar baskets

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, March 9, 2006

Sure, Mary Lynn Fernau would have welcomed a pass to the Oscars. But this past Sunday night, glued to her TV, she let her product, Who's Shoes Child ID, hightail it to Hollywood for her.

Thanks to a surprise invitation, Fernau, a Pearland entrepreneur, sent 100 of her child ID shoe tags to be included in 50 Hollywood dad gift baskets sponsored by "Extra" for Oscar presenters and nominees like Heath Ledger of "Brokeback Mountain" fame.

"I was just amazed, absolutely amazed. It's a great honor to be asked. Usually you have to pay for the exposure," Fernau said.

A tradition since the late 90's, according to www.ctv.ca, Oscar gift baskets sweeten the red carpet deal for celebrities and give retailers some steep but sought-after spotlight.

Companies pinch pennies in the gazillions just to slate a spot at Oscar parties for their products, let alone dole out giveaways sometimes in excess of $100,000 per basket.

And all for that sweet shot of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie posing for five seconds with the latest espresso machine.

Fernau says she wouldn't mind a few celebrity photos but would love even more for the Oscar exposure to help promote her product's safety message.

Who's Shoes Child ID was born after Fernau realized the delay in identifying lost children and returning them to their guardians.

"Once every 40 seconds a child gets lost," she said.

Having worked at Omaha Children's Hospital, where the ER constantly had trouble identifying young accident victims who came in without family, Fernau finally zeroed in on a solution.

With help from her husband and safety experts, she created a discreet but noticeable Velcro ID tag that would fit on any shoe and contain space for name, medical and contact information.

Although Who's Shoes Child ID has been featured on "CBS Early Show" and "The View," Fernau didn't expect the Oscar publicity, especially minus the high-end price tag.

Courtesy of some chance networking at a juvenile trade show last year, she caught the attention of a woman in the baby concierge business who had connections with the entertainment show "Extra."

The woman was so enthusiastic about Fernau's product that she asked "Extra" to slot free space for it in the show's juvenile-themed baskets, alongside items like dad messenger bags and rechargeable nightlights.

Fernau laughs remembering the phone call.

"I was like, 'What?' They called me out of the blue. I just said, 'Yes! Where do you want me to send them?'"

For a few months after, business crept along, then suddenly boomed after a January 2005 clip on "The View" featuring mommy-invented products.

"After 'The View,' sales went up from $75 the previous month to $10,000 in January," Fernau said.

Since then, through the Internet, she has attracted distributors in Australia, England, Newfoundland, Sweden and Canada, and Weebok is even considering putting an ID tag in each of its shoeboxes.

Additionally, the cities of Galveston and Pass Christian, Mississippi, are working to provide a tag for every student.

Post-Katrina, sales along the Gulf Coast skyrocketed, but Fernau says non-hurricane regions are snapping up her product as well.

"We have a ton of sales for the West Coast because of the earthquakes," she said.

Still, minus the TV airings and now the Oscar spotlight, Who's Shoes garners a local following.

"(It's) so exciting that her product was handed out at the Oscars. We all told her she would be famous," Betty Callaway, Fernau's first customer, said.

Callaway, a longtime Pearland resident with a special needs granddaughter, says she bought the ID tag after envisioning multiple situations where it could help reunite Jessica with family if she were lost or unable or too upset to give her name and contact information.

Callaway laughs when she considers how much Pearland has changed since the 50's, how the need for Fernau's product has grown.

"We would not have needed Who's Shoes then. Pearland was so small. Everyone knew everyone else and who belonged to who. We could not have gotten lost if we tried," she said.

Amanda Rackliff, another Pearland resident, bought the tags for her then four-year-old daughter and used them personally when she ran as a triathlon trainer.

"They're non-obtrusive, easy to use and durable. I buy them all the time for other kids, my godchildren and my two nieces," Rackliff said.

Hollywood glitz aside, Fernau says Who's Shoes is just a "keep it simple" company. Take away the simplicity, and you take away the human element.

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"Someone once asked if we'd consider putting in a GPS device, but that takes it from a $5.99 product to a $200 product. We want to keep the human interaction," she said.